1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape recorder and, more particularly, to a door mechanism for a tape recorder for preventing a cassette lid of a tape cassette from being damaged by contacting a door of the door mechanism while a slider is moved toward an upper chassis when the tape cassette is loaded in the tape recorder.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, magnetic recording/reproducing apparatuses such as a video tape recorder already have been developed in various forms by advanced companies, and currently are spread to almost every home and are considered as a staple commodity in modern society.
The currently-prevailing household magnetic recording/reproducing apparatuses utilize 1/2 inch tape cassettes which mostly adopt video home system (VHS). Such a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus largely has a cassette holder which holds the tape cassette, and driving members which pull the cassette holder into the interior of a main body thereof to seat the cassette holder on a main deck. In addition to these, a unit which loads or unloads a magnetic tape in the tape cassette toward a rotary drum installed on the main drum, and units for allowing the magnetic tape to tavel along a predetermined path are provided.
Thus, once the tape cassette is inserted into the interior of the cassette holder, the insertion is monitored to seat the tape cassette on the main deck. Under this circumstance, the magnetic tape is loaded toward the rotary drum rotating at high speed by means of a pair of pole bases to record signals on the magnetic tape or reproduce the signals recorded thereon.
In recent years, an article such as a portable camcorder developed by applying the above-mentioned magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus tends to be miniaturized in pursuit of a lightweight size with a view toward convenience for the user. As a pan of this endeavor, many products adopt the currently and widely available 8 mm tape cassette.
One factor that exerts an influence on the miniaturization and lightweightness is a deck size, and, since the miniaturization and lightweightness of the article can be achieved in connection with the reduced ratio of the deck size, the barometer of the technical advancement can be measured by the reduced degree of the deck size. Actually, magnetic recording/reproducing apparatuses of various types and systems have been studied and developed.
As a result of the research and development, the inventors of the present invention already developed a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus capable of maximally reducing the deck size and simplifying the components, which is described in Korean Patent Application No. 93-5016. In this device, a tape cassette is inserted into a cassette holder having a rotary drum to perform the first loading of a magnetic tape, and the cassette holder is then closed by being pressed to fully load the magnetic tape, wherein the rotary drum is completely held within an internal space of the tape cassette while the loading operation of the tape cassette is completed, thereby highly miniaturizing the deck size. This apparatus will be briefly described below.
FIG. 1 is a side view showing the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus by the previously proposed technique. Ends of a pair of arms 10a extending to the rear portion of an eject lever 10 are coupled with ends of a pair of brackets 11, which are erected in the interior of a main body (not shown) of the apparatus, by means of a shaft 11a to enable the opening/closing operation upwardly and downwardly around the shaft 11a. During an ejecting operation, the eject lever 10 is exposed out of the main body by a predetermined angle upon the release of a locking pin 10b on the front of the eject lever 10 to insert or eject a tape cassette 20 into or out of the main body.
Also, a pair of downwardly facing elastic members 12 are attached on the inner surface of the eject lever 10. The tape cassette 20 is prevented from floating by pressing the upper surface of the tape cassette 20 with the elastic members 12, under the state wherein the pressing operation of the eject lever 10 is completed.
A pin 10c provided on one side of the arm 10a of the eject lever 10 is fitted into an elongated hole 30b of a bracket 30a erected on the side of an upper chassis 30 to make the upper chassis 30 vertically ascend or descend when the eject lever 10 pivots upwardly or downwardly.
A cassette holder 40 for receiving the tape cassette 20, a slider 50 for moving the cassette holder 40 forwardly and backwardly in the horizontal direction, and the upper chassis 30 mounted with a rotary drum 31 for the first loading operation of a magnetic tape (not shown) within the tape cassette 20 during the horizontal movement of the slider 50 are all arranged to fit under the eject lever 10 when the loading of the cassette is completed.
One end of the cassette holder 40 is connected to one end of the slider 50 by means of a shaft 40a, and a first link 41 formed near the center thereof is connected to a second link 42 which is inserted to slide along an elongated hole 50b in the bracket 50a formed on the side of the slider 50 by means of a pin 43. Therefore, the cassette holder 40 can pivot around the shaft 40a by a predetermined angle to insert and eject the tape cassette 20.
A lid-opening member 44 which pivots upwardly and downwardly around a shaft 44a on one side thereof is installed on one side of the cassette holder 40. An elongated hole 44b formed approximately in the center of the lid-opening member 44 is fitted with a pin 40b projecting on the side of the cassette holder 40 thereby to guide the pin 40b.
The center of the lid-opening member 44 is coupled with the slider 50 by means of a third link 45 inclined by a predetermined angle, and the second link 42 and the third link 45 are connected by an elastic member 46. Accordingly, during seating of the cassette holder 40 on the slider 50, the lid-opening member 44 about the shaft 44a to open a lid 20a of the tape cassette 20.
Moreover, a reel base 51 is mounted on the slider 50, and a reel 53 is installed on the reel base 51 to guide a hub (not shown) of the tape cassette 20, and the forward and backward movement of the slider 50 in the horizontal direction is executed by means of a slider transportation apparatus (not shown) installed on the upper chassis 30.
A lower chassis 60, mounted with travelling elements for driving the magnetic tape within the tape cassette 20, is installed below the upper chassis 30.
On sides of the upper chassis 30 and lower chassis 60, pins 60c projecting on respective ends of a pair of intersecting fourth and fifth links 60a and 60b, in which the Scott Russel's link mechanism principle is employed, are mounted with an elastic member 61 to hook respective links 60a and 60b, thereby elastically raising and lowering the upper chassis 30 in the vertical direction.
In the previously proposed magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, when the cassette holder 40 is forced to be closed, after the tape cassette 20 is inserted into the inside the cassette holder 40 placed on the inner side of the eject lever 10 which is exposed out of the main body by a predetermined angle, the cassette holder 40 rotates around the shaft 40a to be seated on the slider 50. At this time, the hub of the tape cassette 20 is guided by the reel 53 installed on the slider 50, and, simultaneously, the lid-opening member 44 on the side of the cassette holder 40 rotates clockwise around the shaft 44a to open the lid 20a of the tape cassette 20.
Under the above-described circumstance, if the cassette holder 40 is pushed toward the upper chassis 30, the slider transportation apparatus mounted on the upper chassis 30 horizontally transports the slider 50 toward the upper chassis 30 to enable the first loading operation of the magnetic tape with respect to the rotary drum 31.
However, in the previously proposed mechanism constructed as above, during the first loading operation, the height of the cassette lid 20a, which was opened by sliding toward the rotary drum 31 while seating the cassette holder 40 on the slider 50, is higher than the horizontal height of the eject lever 10 fixed on the rotation shaft 11a. Therefore, the previously proposed apparatus is disadvantageous in that the overall height of the deck including an unshown door is increased.